ARCADIA, Calif. - Medina Spirit has resumed galloping at Santa Anita for a summertime comeback following a controversial win in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 and a third-place finish in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 15.
Medina Spirit’s win in the Kentucky Derby has been the focus of international news after the presence of the therapeutic medication betamethasone was found in a post-race test. Medina Spirit could be disqualified from the Kentucky Derby win, pending a hearing.
Veteran jockey Joe Bravo is switching coasts this summer, leaving his longtime base at Monmouth Park in New Jersey for Southern California.
Bravo said Sunday that he will begin riding in California at Santa Anita from June 18-20 and will ride the Del Mar summer meeting from July 16 to Sept. 6.
“I’ll go from one beach to another,” Bravo said.
Bravo, 49, said his decision was largely based on new regulations at Monmouth Park that restrict jockeys from using the whip in races. Bravo has been the leading rider at Monmouth Park 13 times.
Charlie Appleby didn’t get to run Rebel’s Romance in the Belmont Stakes, but the other three runners he shipped here at the beginning of May all ran super in their races on Saturday.
Althiqa and Summer Romance finished first and second in the Grade 1 Just a Game with the former rallying along the inside of the latter to win the one-mile turf race for females by three-quarters of a length.
“I watched the replay, that was something,” said Sophie Chretien, who traveled with the Appleby runners to New York. “That was super class.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jockey Kendrick Carmouche is expected to be out 8 to 10 weeks after breaking his right ankle in an incident leaving the starting gate in Saturday’s last race at Belmont Park.
Carmouche, who broke his right leg in a spill at Kentucky Downs in 2018, was scheduled to fly to Tennessee on Sunday afternoon and undergo surgery on Monday morning. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Philip Kregor, who operated on Carmouche in 2018.
Total betting on the Belmont Stakes on Saturday afternoon was $60.46 million, a 13.6 percent increase over handle the last time the race was held in its traditional place on the Triple Crown calendar in 2019, according to the New York Racing Association.
Results and payouts from the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes on June 5, 2021, at Belmont Park, won by Essential Quality.
2 Essential Quality – $4.60 / $3.00 /$2.60
4 Hot Rod Charlie – $4.10 /$2.90
3 Rombauer – $3.50
6 Known Agenda
1 Bourbonic
7 Rock Your World
8 Overtook
5 France Go de Ina
$1 Exacta (2-4) – $7.50
50-cent Trifecta (2-4-3) – $10.85
$1 Double (4-2) – $5.00
$1 Pick Three (3-4-2) – $59.00
50-cent Pick Four (8/3/4/2) –$269.25
ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association announced the creation of the Elizabeth Bracken Memorial Scholarship to support and encourage students enrolled in the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program to secure careers in the Thoroughbred industry.
The $10,000 scholarship, to be awarded annually, will be open to juniors and seniors who completed one full semester in the RTIP and have expressed the desire to work in the Thoroughbred racing industry.
ELMONT, N.Y. – First Captain, a pricey colt who has won around one turn in his first two starts, may get the chance to stretch out to 1 1/8 miles in the $120,000 Curlin Stakes on July 30 at Saratoga, trainer Shug McGaughey said.
McGaughey said First Captain would be nominated to the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer Stakes going a mile here July 5, but the idea of stretching the horse out around two turns sounded more appealing.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Saturday’s Belmont Stakes program is going to be the last day for John Velazquez in the United States for about two weeks.
On Sunday, Velazquez was to start a three-day suspension stemming from a ride on Following Sea in his debut race on March 6 at Santa Anita. Velazquez was cited for “crossing over without sufficient clearance and causing interference,” which resulted in the disqualification of Following Sea from second to third.
